Christoph Strehl

Christoph Strehl (born 8 April 1968) is a German tenor in opera and concert. He has appeared at major opera houses internationally, regarded as a specialist for Mozart roles, but performing a broad repertoire. He appeared as Don Ottavio in Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'' at the Salzburg Festival conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and as Tamino in ''Die Zauberflöte'' with Claudio Abbado on the conductor's first recording of the opera. He is professor of voice at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

Career

Born in Lübeck, Strehl attended the , where Barbara Grusnick, Bruno Grusnick's wife, discovered his talent. Encouraged by her, he studied voice at the Universität der Künste Berlin, and at the Folkwang-Hochschule in Essen with Soto Papulkas. He studied privately with Silvana Bazzoni Bartoli, and took masterclasses with Josef Metternich, Gianni Raimondi and Norman Shetler. He achieved first prize at the Alexander Girardi International Singing Competition in Coburg in 1999.

Strehl made his debut at the Hagen Theatre in 1995. After permanent engagements at the Landestheater Coburg and the Theater Hof, he joined the Mannheim National Theatre as a lyric tenor, where Ádám Fischer conducted. He became a member of the Opernhaus Zürich in 2002, with as artistic director. There, he performed the role of Eginhard in Schubert's ''Fierrabras'', directed by Carl Guth and conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, with Jonas Kaufmann in the title role. Engaged by Jens-Daniel Herzog, he was a member of the Opernhaus Dortmund from 2011 to 2015. His new roles included the title role Eliogabalo in Cavalli's opera, conducted by Fausto Nardi.

Strehl was recognised internationally when he performed first at the Salzburg Festival in 2003, as Don Ottavio in Mozart's ''Don Giovanni'' conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. He performed mainly Mozart roles as a guest at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, in Vienna and London, at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, in Aix-en-Provence, Geneva, Barcelona and Amsterdam. In 2009, he performed in the Haydn Hall at the Eszterháza palace in Eisenstadt, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Joseph Haydn's death, singing the tenor solo in ''Die Schöpfung'' alongside Annette Dasch and Thomas Quasthoff with the Wiener Kammerchor and the conducted by Fischer.

Strehl has been a professor of voice at the Mozarteum University Salzburg.

Recordings

In 2005, Strehl recorded the role of Tamino in Mozart's ''Die Zauberflöte'' conducted by Claudio Abbado, the conductor's first recording of the work, with the Arnold Schoenberg Choir the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Reviewer Alan Blyth from ''Gramophone'' noted:

Strehl recorded the role of Eginhard in the ''Fierabras'' production from Zürich as DYD in 2006. He recorded the role of Tamino again with Harnoncourt in the Zürich production directed by Martin Kuej in 2008. In 2009, he was the tenor soloist in a recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with Philippe Herreweghe conducting the Royal Flemish Philharmonic and the Collegium Vocale Gent, and soloists Christiane Oelze, Ingeborg Danz and David Wilson-Johnson.

References

External links

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* Mika, Anna
Christoph Strehl über Harnoncourt
(interview, in German) musikundmehr.mika.at 10 December 2008

Christoph Strehl
(management, in German) tscherneartists.com

Christoph Strehl
Operabase

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strehl, Christoph
German tenors
Academic staff of Mozarteum University Salzburg
1968 births
Living people
Musicians from Lübeck